Yesterday Tokyo, today Bangkok, tomorrow Chennai. No rest for the weary. … [Read more...]
Hanging out in Narita Japan
Woke up this morning on some straw mat in a room I had never seen before. This was fine as I'm used to sleeping on hard surfaces. The confusion became clearer as the fog lifted from the sleep deprived mind and I vaguely remembered landing in Narita, Japan last night. The drive to this guesthouse was a blur - but I do remember the driver turning off his engine at every stop light, turning off his lights every time he stopped and driving with both … [Read more...]
Researching Budget Hotels, Chennai India
Looking for budget hotels in India is always so entertaining. For $6 dollars a night we found a hotel that boasts, "bucket showers (for hot water), a "no Indian policy" and squat toilets". Really, all strong selling points??? Here's another line: "each and every single room at our hotel exotic epitomizes luxury and the grandeur of Indian culture juxtaposed with modern amenities" - this is set on a background image of some guy in a tuxedo! … [Read more...]
Final Thoughts on Palau
It was like pulling teeth to leave this amazing place. Now it is just a dream - a dream of sadness at being back yet a dream still tinged with those amazing turquoise waters - that are in front of me whenever I close my eyes. I cannot sleep. I stay awake and write about Palau and this remarkable trip. I gorged myself silly on sashimi the last few days - both from fish that I caught and that my home-stay hosts caught. Peleliu Island has … [Read more...]
Kansai Airport, KIX – Osaka Japan
I've flown into NRT many times over the years but this was the first time I've flown into the Osaka International Airport. A friend indicated it was a very modern airport but he neglected to mention just how cool this airport really is. Up until now, Changi Airport in Singapore has been my benchmark for International airports but KIX is certainly close to Changi's caliber. A public lounge offers showers for a small fee - no small showers here. … [Read more...]
Ngardmau Waterfall & More
Ngardmau Waterfall is Palau's largest waterfall - dropping over the edge of a cliff about 30 meters. The main island in this country is by far the largest - yet it is still very small. You can drive around this entire island in about an hour. One of the highlights to the north is definitely this waterfall - its about a 30 minute hike in - or for those who prefer not to walk, jump on the small single engine mono rail and move along at a snail's … [Read more...]
Peleliu Island Palau
This island has seen much pain - it was scene of intense battles fought in WWII between Japanese and American forces. Initially the Americans thought the fight for the island and its airstrip would take a couple of days but ultimately winning the island took over 2 months. Existing limestone caves and new ones specially built as hide outs were constructed by the Japanese. A group of Japanese even lived undetected in one of the caves for 2.5 … [Read more...]
Kayangel, Northern Palau
Today we visited Kayangel - the northernmost coral atoll island in all of Palau. The scenery here is much different than the rock islands to the south - yet just as stunningly beautiful. We went line fishing for an hour and almost every time we dropped the line we pulled it back up with a fish on the other end. We caught White snapper, grouper, a long fish the locals called a "marijuana fish" and other colorful fish. We dropped anchor on a … [Read more...]
Pretty, Pretty Palau
Have hundreds of photos of our trip so far - but no time to upload them. Will do so as soon as can catch a break. There's plenty of perspective to be found in Palau - the island is made for outdoor adventure. Today we spent the entire day on or near the water. Rock Islands are located south of the main island and capital city of Koror. These are a series of many small limestone islands completely covered with tropical vegetation - with amazing … [Read more...]
No Journey, No Perspective
We touched down in Koror Palau on a cloudless evening - with a full moon blazing and reflecting off of the wings of the plane the entire flight over from Guam. We had arranged a homestay ahead of time and the owner was going to pick us up. We arrived at 130am, waited until 2am then called our homestay. The father of the owner spoke no English. We called back with someone from the Visit Palau doing the talking. He told us, "oh she's not here - she … [Read more...]
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